Possible rules change to stop fake injuries

[4Q Basket Case]

Why can't instant replay be used to determine if there is a fake injury going on and give the offending team a 15 yard penalty if determined to be fake? Yeah I know players and coaches will say they weren't faking but they already claim they didn't hold, interfere, etc. There is always time for replay to determine an obvious fake since a time out for the injury is already called, so shouldn't affect the game time.

That requires a stoppage of play to conduct the review….which is what the fakers want. And it handles only the worst fakes. And it adds yet more interruptions. It would also just generate better and more subtle acting.

Let’s keep it simple…we stop the game for your injury, you sit for the longer of when you’re good to go again or until the next possession.

 

[MOAN]

That requires a stoppage of play to conduct the review….which is what the fakers want. And it handles only the worst fakes. And it adds yet more interruptions. It would also just generate better and more subtle acting.

Let’s keep it simple…we stop the game for your injury, you sit for the longer of when you’re good to go again or until the next possession.

Well the play would already be stopped for the fake injury, so I don't see how that would be any different than what we already have. If during the stoppage of play for the injury it is determined by replay to be a faked injury the refs could just as easily flag the offending team 15 yards for faking an injury. They could still make the player sit out. I am just saying add a penalty along with the player sitting out. If we can easily see it happening, then no doubt replay can too. If it turns out the player was really injured then oh well, ain't like refs don't already blow calls but at least it would be reviewed before called unlike pass interference or holding.

 

[teamplayer]

As unpopular as targeting calls are, I don’t think we need to give SEC refs another subjective penalty they can flag. I’d give it maybe two seasons before Autrey’s crew flags a player with a leg folded backwards for this and costs his team a ball game as a result.

Instant replay and targeting have basically ruined college football for me, so I cannot imagine a ten minute instant replay to determine if a guy is faking an injury. Please do not let this happen because it is already difficult to watch games as they are. I say if the clock has to stop for an injured player, that player cannot return for five minutes of game clock.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I think replay has been a necessary evil that has had its unintended consequences. But I can only imagine the missed calls and the different outcomes that would have occurred over the years if it wouldn't have been in place.

 

[DawgAlum2054]

That requires a stoppage of play to conduct the review….which is what the fakers want. And it handles only the worst fakes. And it adds yet more interruptions. It would also just generate better and more subtle acting.

Let’s keep it simple…we stop the game for your injury, you sit for the longer of when you’re good to go again or until the next possession.

Play already stops for an injury, so why not review it at the time?

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Play already stops for an injury, so why not review it at the time?

Because I think reviews would result in the worst of both worlds -- they won't stop the fakes and they'll add yet more and longer interruptions of the game. Which is what the fakers want, which will lead to more fakes than we already have.

Here's why:
We tend to remember the blatantly obvious fakes -- players walking around naturally, coaches yelling and gesticulating from the sidelines to go down, and the player suddenly hits the turf like he's been shot with a load of 00-buck. Those are the easy ones to identify, and replay would definitely catch them.

Coaches, however, are remarkably adaptive when it comes to getting around rules. If you introduce consequences for faking (minimum sit-outs, yardage penalties, docked time-outs, mandatory clock runoff, whatever), you've only given them an incentive to improve the acting.

In pretty short order, the fakes will be infinitely less obvious than the poster-child film clips we've all seen. For anybody who thinks coaches wouldn't do that, I have an old bridge in Brooklyn that I need to sell for cheap...you know, for tax purposes.

So if you institute film review, you've now put the refs in the impossible position of getting inside the head of the player. Since the fakes will now be far less obvious, most if not all of the reviews will be inconclusive.

IOW, they won't have clear evidence that it's a fake, so they won't be able to assess whatever consequences have ostensibly been attached to fake injuries.

Delay is what the fakers want -- time to gather themselves, call the play (offensive or defensive), make substitutions, etc. all while the game clock is stopped -- and replay gives them more of all of that. Worse, you now have delays for both the injury (fake or genuine) and the review.

Which, because the acting is so much better, thereby preventing assessment of consequences, is more incentive to fake more often.

We all want to end the fake injuries. Film review puts an impossible burden on the refs and before the first kickoff will actually be counter-productive.

A simple rule -- if you're hurt bad enough that we have to stop the game to tend to your injury, you're hurt bad enough to sit out a minimum of the rest of the possession -- is easy to implement, easy to enforce and will be effective.

 

[DawgAlum2054]

A simple rule -- if you're hurt bad enough that we have to stop the game to tend to your injury, you're hurt bad enough to sit out a minimum of the rest of the possession -- is easy to implement, easy to enforce and will be effective.

agreed

 

[BamaFan6462]

I think replay has been a necessary evil that has had its unintended consequences. But I can only imagine the missed calls and the different outcomes that would have occurred over the years if it wouldn't have been in place.

Replay itself is necessary, imo. The problem still goes back to little or no accountability when a call is blown, whether it was reviewed or not. Until that’s addressed, officials don’t need to be given the power to make more rulings that are subjective. The popularity of sports betting will probably take care of the problem eventually, but in the meantime this could become another way to lose a close game.